J. R. R. Tolkien's grandson, Simon Tolkien, recalls: I vividly remember going to church with [My Grandfather] in Bournemouth. He was a devout Roman Catholic and it was soon after the Church had changed the liturgy from Latin to English. My Grandfather obviously didn't agree with this and made all the responses very loudly in Latin while the rest of the congregation answered in English. I found the whole experience quite excruciating, but My Grandfather was oblivious. He simply had to do what he believed to be right... That would have happened over fifty years ago. Since that time, the status of Latin, the historical liturgical language of the Catholic Church in its Roman Rite has declined precipitously and is indeed under renewed assault from the highest levels of the Church's hierarchy. This small book is offered to laity determined, regardless of the action or inaction of our clergy, to reclaim our heritage and restore Latin to its rightful place in our liturgy by providing the appropriate Latin responses throughout the post-Vatican II Mass. Remember: Roman is our Rite; Latin is our right.
